1 The LORD {YHWH, Vision Giver} let me see, and look—two baskets of figs stood before the LORD’s temple after Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had taken Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into exile from Jerusalem, along with the officials of Judah and the craftsmen {charash: skilled artisan} and the smiths, and had brought them to Babylon.
2 One basket had very good figs, like the first-ripe {bakkurot: earliest harvest} figs; and the other basket had very bad figs, which could not be eaten {lo-te'akhalnah: figurative inedibility}.
3 And the LORD {YHWH, Vision Giver} said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “Figs. The good figs are very good, but the bad ones are very bad—so bad that they cannot be eaten because of their badness {ra’ot: severe spoilage}.”
4 And the word of the LORD {YHWH, Message Giver} came to me, saying {leʾemor: to communicate directly}.
5 Thus says the LORD God of Israel {YHWH Elohei Yisrael, National Protector}: “Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles of Judah whom I have sent from this place to the land of the Chaldeans for good {letovah: beneficial purpose}.”
6 And I {YHWH, Vigilant Guardian} will set my eye upon them for good, and I will bring them back to this land; and I will build {uvenitim: restore and establish} them up and not tear them down, and I will plant them and not uproot them.
7 And I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Restorer}; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God {Elohim, Divine Authority}; for they will return to Me with all their heart.
8 And like the bad figs which cannot be eaten from badness, thus says the LORD {YHWH, Righteous Judge}: “So I will treat Zedekiah the king of Judah and his officials {sar: governing leaders}, the remnant of Jerusalem who remain in this land, and those dwelling in the land of Egypt like these bad figs.”
9 And I will make them a horror {zaavah: stark terror}—for harm—to all the kingdoms of the earth, a reproach and a proverb, a taunt, and a curse in every place to which I drive {addihem: forced exile} them.
10 And I {YHWH, Sovereign Judge} will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence {dever: plague} among them until they are consumed from upon the land which I have given to them and to their fathers.